I'm going to jump right into the mailbag to start things off today, because I couldn't have asked for a better e-mail for what I wanted to address:

"Dear JohnnyJets,
Now that the team is 2-0, have you booked tickets to Jacksonville? Can the team run its record to 5-0 by feasting on the soft underbelly of the NFL, namely at the Dolphins and home against the Bills and 49ers?
Looking at the Jets' schedule, it seems like the December games at Pittsburgh and home against Seattle and New England will be the make-or-break part of the season. Thoughts?
Longtime reader, Dave in Brighton."

Dave might have to start signing off, "Longtime and only reader, Dave"...but that's besides the point. Dave, you hit the nail right on the head - I was just talking about the next few weeks for the Jets (and the Patriots) with my dad. Both the Jets and Patriots are 2-0, the Dolphins and Bills 0-2. The Jets, Pats, and Bills all have byes this week. Then things get interesting. The Jets come off their bye to play at Miami, vs. Buffalo, and vs. San Francisco. All of those games are very winnable, to say the least. The Patriots have a similar schedule, coming off the bye to play at Buffalo, vs. Miami, then at home against the Seahawks (a tougher draw than the 49ers, but still very winnable for New England). It is very feasible that the next week's game (Week 7), between the Jets and Patriots, could be 5-0 vs. 5-0. Can you imagine the hype that would surround that game?? Especially when you throw in the fact that the Red Sox will have probably just completed a monumental collapse (we're looking at October 24th here folks, nothing good happens to the Red Sox in late October), and New Englanders will be putting the Patriots on some kind of pedestal because the Pats are all they have left after a lifetime of baseball misery.

Anyway, I digress. The point is, if the Jets don't overlook the cupcakes they have before the Patriots game - that will be the most important game of the season. But as far as the second part of Dave's e-mail, those last few weeks are definitely the toughest part of the Jets' schedule. I'll even take it back another eweek - the Jets have to host Houston, who could be fighting for a playoff spot, then go to Pittsburgh, then host Seattle, then play at New England, before closing the season out in Saint Louis. That's a rocky stretch, but hopefully, the Jets will have something locked up before they play the Rams. It would be very dangerous to go into Saint Louis needing to win in the final week to get a playoff spot. Of course, the way the Jets played the first two weeks, it's likely they'll go into Saint Louis looking to cap off a perfect season. (Take it easy - I'm kidding....sort of.)

A couple of notes on the Jets - Sam Cowart's knee injury will likely keep him out of action for a month-plus. That means that rookie Jonathan Vilma will be getting the start at Middle Linebacker. And the news isn't so good on Kevin Mawae - Herman Edwards is calling Mawae 50-50 for the Dolphins game after the bye week - on Monday Edwards had said he expected Mawae (broken hand) would be able to play.

For entertainment purposes only, I bring you the following update: I was 7-9 in my picks last week, and for the season, I'm at 17-15. I'll probably write again by Friday with my picks.